I was joined by two amazing guest speakers, Zabrina Hossain, Product Manager of Emerging Technologies at VFM Leonardo and Melissa Bruckler, an E-Commerce Consultant from Granite Hospitality. I would like to thank them for sharing their insights and for showing viewers that Facebook can be used as an effective channel to reach and engage consumers.

By familiarizing our audience with the new Facebook Timeline layout and by teaching them how to leverage its new features, they can now apply the best practices to their Facebook pages and make a bigger impact on travel shoppers!

We also received a lot of questions, many of which we were unable to answer during our allotted time. So we’ve compiled a list of the most popular questions and have taken the time to answer them below.

1) Where do I get the Facebook Apps that were featured in your webinar?

The Facebook Apps that were featured in our webinar are part of our VBrochure Facebook Apps Suite and are included in our VBrochure Ultra Premium package. There are five flexible apps that turn your page into an interactive booking conversion took – Tour, Sleep, Celebrate, Meet and Special Offers. For more information on our VBrochure Facebook Apps Suite, click here.

2) How do I change my App icons? Where do I find the icons that were featured in your webinar?

The icons featured during the webinar are part of the VBrochure Facebook Apps Suite and can only be used if you are a VBrochure customer. Four custom designed app icon sets come included with our VBrochure Facebook Apps Suite and allow you to customize your page to fit with the theme and style of your hotel. Click here to see all four app icon sets.

For more information on becoming a VBrochure subscriber, click here.3) How many Apps can I have on my Facebook page? How many is too many?

When people visit your page they will initially see up to 4 Apps. When the drop down arrow is clicked, up to 12 Apps become visible.

While there are no hard and fast rules on how many apps you should have, you’ll want to ensure that every app you add to your hotel’s page is effectively telling your hotel’s story and drives engagement. If you add too many apps, the important ones may become lost at the bottom of the list.

4) What kind of photos should I be posting on Facebook?

Facebook offers a multitude of ways to incorporate photos into your Facebook page – cover photo, profile photo, photo albums, and posting photos on your timeline. To get the most engagement from users, get creative and use pictures that tell the story of your hotel. Think about what a guest would want to see before and after their stay.

While it would be near impossible to put together an exhaustive list of everything you can post pictures about, here are some ideas: Local attractions, events at your hotel, hotel amenities, guests enjoying their stay, staff, scenic photos of the surrounding areas, awards, food from your restaurant, renovations… the list goes on and on.5) What is ‘pinning’? How do I ‘pin’ something to my page?

After you have posted something to your Timeline (status update, picture, video, etc.) you have to option to ‘pin’ it to the top of your page. It keeps the post at the top of your page for 7 days and ensures it doesn’t shift down the page as your post more on your Timeline.

For detailed directions on how to ‘pin’ something to the top of your page, click here.

6) What are the guidelines for what you can/cannot include in your Cover Photo?

As per Facebook’s term of use, you cannot include the following in your cover photo:

Price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it at our website”

Contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your Page’s About Section

References to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features

Calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends”

Your cover photo should be a unique picture that represents your hotel. Be creative and experiment with images to see what your audience responds well to.

Darlene Rondeau has more than 25 years of marketing & sales leadership focused on providing solutions for Fortune 1000 Companies. Over the last 2 decades, Darlene’s client list includes worldwide brands such as American Airlines, AT&T, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Disney, General Electric, Hilton Hotels, Southwest Airlines, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, and USA Today.
Currently, Ms. Rondeau is Vice President, Best Practices, Online Merchandising for Leonardo Worldwide. Her role is to educate hoteliers and work with industry associations to heighten awareness of new visual marketing techniques that motivate consumers throughout their travel shopping journey.
Ms. Rondeau is a frequent speaker at Industry events such as BLLA’s Leadership symposium, North Texas University Hospitality School, Triptease Book Direct Conference and HSMAI. She also serves on the HSMAI Americas Board of Directors. Darlene hosts regularly scheduled educational webinars on the subject of Digital Marketing for the Hospitality Industry, along with exclusive presentations for the world’s top hospitality brands.